First, we are reminded of how the GOP downplayed similar allegations against Clarence Thomas to ramrod his improvident appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. Second, the Cain imbroglio conveniently diverts scrutiny from Mitt Romney, expediting his coronation as the Republicans' nominee.

Cain isn't doing anyone — not the public, his party or himself — any favors by remaining a candidate.

Edward Alston

Santa Maria, Calif.

So Cain calls a news conference to denounce "baseless" charges of sexual harassment. Then, without a hint of irony, he charges that those allegations are the work of the "Democrat machine."

Is it really possible that Cain doesn't understand that his nomination as the Republican candidate for president would induce complete euphoria in the Democrat machine?

At my first teaching job in 1970, I was supported by mostly engaged parents, involved administrators and great students. Even less academically inclined students had some degree of respect for teachers and fellow students.

Over the last 15 years, teaching has become very stressful. Administrators are under pressure to produce great standardized test scores. When I visit the high school I taught at, I feel the tension among my former colleagues.

Schools should not focus so much on standardized tests. Do we have to place more stress on our teachers?

John Pawson

Huntington Beach

As a teacher, I can understand the pressure we all feel today as educators.

I work in a low-income area where I often have to pick up my students to get them to school, give up a lunch or two to work with them and stay after school to help them with their homework.

If teachers make sacrifices to help their students, test scores go up.

It's easier to complain rather than putting the time and effort into the students we were hired to help.

The $650-million funding cut this year to the California State University system, on top of previous years' cuts, is outrageously shortsighted.

As a Sputnik-era baby boomer, I benefited from my parents' generation funding of the many schools we needed with bond measures. That was a sensible investment that we, their kids, eventually helped pay off, and now it's time to "pay it forward." Logically, this means both higher tax brackets and bonds paid back by the students we educate.

Education should be like roads: a publicly funded service available to take anyone as far as they can go for nominal fees.

L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa suggests that the Dodgers be owned by an Angeleno. Why stop there? Let the team be owned by all Angelenos.

For a little more than $1 billion the whole setup — the team, properties, TV-radio gigs and God knows what else — can be purchased by the city. Any financial whiz can suggest how we might pay for it. For guidance, look to the Green Bay Packers.

Years ago my favorite NFL team was the Baltimore Colts. The owner took his entire operation out of that city in the dark of night. It was an enduring reminder that ownership of assets with such heavy and emotional ties to the common man should reflect that commitment.

Jim Newton writes about L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca: "Unlike the [Los Angeles Police Department] chief, the sheriff is an elected official.... He can't be fired or disciplined. In effect, he has no boss but the voters, and that means an investigatory commission, no matter how effectively it does its job, will have little leverage."

He concludes that Baca "is so insulated from normal channels of pressure that he simply does what he likes." He describes such insulation as "politics." By politics, he means the voting public.